If you’re blogging as a business, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about income. But how often do we think about expenses? I remember when my friend Megan from Sweet Sauce outlined her blog expenses, and as a blogger, I thought it was SO helpful to see the true cost of doing business. The financial pieces might not sound exciting, but if you’re trying to run your blog as a business, you have to know where your money is going. I outlined my typical monthly costs to give you a sense of what it costs to keep my site, I Heart Vegetables, up and running.
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Monthly Website Expenses
Web Hosting- $80. I use WPopt to host my website and VirginiaBloggers.com. There are cheaper hosting options out there but now that my blog is my full-time job, I wanted premium hosting. Paying a little more for hosting means my site is faster, I get help when I need it, and I don’t have to worry about it crashing.
iMark Support- $25. I pay for a service to keep my website secure, my plugins up to date, and be available 24/7 in case my site ever crashes. Honestly, it’s like paying $25 for the peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, I have someone that can fix it.
Mailchimp- $75. Mailchimp has been a great email program, but it’s not (always) free. As you hit a certain number of subscribers, the price goes up. More subscribers = more costs. While I’m happy that my email list has grown over the years, it definitely gets expensive!
Monthly Software Services
Adobe- $10. I pay a monthly subscription fee for Lightroom. Now that I’m head over heels in love with Lightroom, I may decide to purchase it outright, so I don’t have to avoid paying the fee. But the subscription has been a nice option while I figured things out, and it’s nice to always have the latest software.
Canva- $13. I have the premium version of Canva because I use it all the time. This gives me access to more templates, design options, themes, and more. This tool has been a lifesaver since I’m terrible with graphic design work.
SEM Rush- $25. This is an analytics tool that allows me to do keyword research, analyze my site, and find ways to optimize it for search engines. SEM Rush is a complex tool, but it’s definitely helped me improve my search traffic.
Nutrifox-$8. Technically it’s $89 for the year, but that works out to about $8 a month. This service generates the nutritional information of my recipes in a streamlined way. Since my readers (and Google!) like having that information, it’s worth the investment.
Premium Theme Plugin- $8. I purchased a theme template for my site, but to get the latest and greatest updates, I have to pay $100 a year. It’s not ideal, but until I redesign my site, I’m stuck with it.
Other Blogging Expenses
Groceries- Since I’m a food blogger, I’m able to expense groceries that I’m specifically purchasing for a recipe. (This doesn’t mean I can expense all my food!) Depending on what recipes I’m working on for the month, this tends to be around $120.
Equipment– I recently splurged on a new camera, which was about $2,000. I’ve also purchased camera lenses, photography backgrounds, computer equipment, a new cell phone, etc. These aren’t reoccurring expenses, but they add up quickly.
Education– Last year, I paid for a business coach, a food blogging course, and a PR class. Believe it or not, these investments cost thousands of dollars. That may sound crazy, but I knew I wanted to turn this into a full-time business, and that’s what I needed to do it. Was it expensive? You better believe it. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
So what does it cost to be a full-time food blogger?
A lot of money! My monthly website expenses are around $244. But once I add in groceries, equipment, education, occasional advertising costs, and travel, it can add up quickly!
I hope this gives you an idea of how to budget your income and ways you might be able to save!
Very helpful information to consider! Thank you.
This was so interesting! My blog is very small at this point but I always love getting a sneak peak behind successful blogs such as yours!